A DeKalb crafting workshop will help its participants create something that they can hold on to.
Northern Illinois Hospice is partnering with the DeKalb Public Library to host a Memorial Pillow Making workshop.
Jen Conley is a bereavement coordinator and music therapist at the hospice. She said there is something called continued bond theory.
“Part of helping us manage our grief is continuing to feel connected to that person that was so beloved to us. And we can do this in all sorts of ways,” she said. “And it's very unique and individual, but holding on to items, possibly little daily rituals.”
The pillows will be created from loved one’s shirts. Volunteer seamsters will be on hand to help. Conley said her dad passed away over 30 years ago. She said a pillow with her dad’s old flannel shirt was given to her.
“I just hugged it,” she said. “And it was a little bit like a hug from my dad, which it's been a very, very long time since that's happened. So, I can be a testimony to how this is going to have a treasured place among my belongings.”
Conley says similar workshops were done in the past with DeKalb County Hospice, but the focus was different.
Two one-hour sessions will be offered on Saturday Jan. 27. One at 10 a.m. and the other at 11 a.m. Registration is required and can be done by going to the library’s event page.
